Texas Tech AD Kirby Hocutt on Thursday was named CFP Selection Committee Chair, "succeeding Arkansas AD Jeff Long, who stepped down the day before," according to a front-page piece by Don Williams of the LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL. Hocutt, who spent the '15 season as one of the committee's 12 members, will "speak about his new role on Saturday." The committee chair "has a weekly appointment on national television to explain the CFP’s weekly rankings that start in mid-October." That "makes him the lightning rod for fan criticism and media questioning" (LUBBOCK AVALANCHE-JOURNAL, 1/15). Hocutt said of the new job, "It will be a lot of fun." In Dallas, Chuck Carlton writes when it "comes to college athletics, the CFP selection chairman might have more visibility than anyone else." It also "comes with more scrutiny, as Long discovered." Hocutt: "It's a privilege. It's a way to give back to the country's greatest game." Carlton notes the decision "looks like it should be good for both the playoff and the Big 12." From the conference perspective, Hocutt "understands that spread offenses aren't a sign of the apocalypse and high-scoring games can still include good defense." Carlton: "Just don't expect a conference booster. Hocutt knows his role" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 1/15).
